Fendellspiel

Tormund rushed to the cart, only to find that Marvin Thresher had bled to death from the hideous wounds given to him by several undead wolves. Tormund, shocked to his very core and unable to shake the feeling of loss and sadness from losing a good friend, watched numbly as the team deliberated on their next course of action. The group agreed to return to town, perhaps even to see if Ankit the friendly cleric would be able to resurrect their recently departed friend. The group ascended into the light, one by one, with Marvin’s body pulled up last.

Even the donkey had not been spared. In order to ensure its place in the afterlife, but mostly to eliminate the possibility of an undead donkey returning to them, the group set the highly flammable donkey on fire. Tormund and Sigrid agreed to pull the cart together in the place of Jedediah the loyal (if deceased and surprisingly combustible) donkey.

Not far from the cave, the team came upon a set of three kobolds fast asleep under a bush. The kobolds were hung over, perhaps from a foul-tasting clear liquid that one carried in a bottle. The team dispatched the kobolds quickly, and gained quite a bit of gold in the process. Bree pocketed the remainder of the liquid for her own purposes.

After the battle, Bree searched around in the bush that the kobolds had been sleeping under. There was a leather flap hiding a hole about five feet wide which led down and then turned steeply to one side. While this hole was intriguing, the team agreed to return to town in order to rest, replenish their supplies, and hopefully find a way to resurrect their friend.

The group returned to town; however, their homecoming was not warm or hospitable. They found the town empty; even tumbleweed would have felt uncomfortable entering the silent emptiness that had engulfed the town. Even though the group had been away for only three days and two nights, the enchanter’s and alchemist’s huts were missing. Gaius used Detect Magic on the area and discovered the remnants of a conjuration spell. Suspicious, the group walked by the temple of Zennick in the town square. Some members of the group heard chanting of a worrisome nature emanating from the temple, and one member even discovered that it sounded like the chanting was in Infernal, the language of devils. The chanting, however, stopped when Tormund ran up and pounded his sword on the front door. In the meantime, Bree and Samathy found a cellar door near the back entrance of the temple. Bree disabled the hinges to keep the doors open and make sure the two could not get trapped.

Spooked, the rest of the group caught up quickly to Bree and Samathy as they descended into the cellar. Inside, they found Ankit’s chambers, including a smoldering hearth, a table with a number of books on it, and a chest. The books were written in a mixture of Infernal and Common. The books in Common included cookbooks and books of a more sinister nature. Gaius found and placed the most interesting looking book in Infernal in his pack. The book, gilded and heavy, showcased several complicated drawings. Bree tried to open the chest but was not successful. Deacon detected magic on the chest.

Gaius also found a mostly burnt diary in the smoldering embers of the hearth. He pulled out the remnants and, after scampering out of the cellar, Gaius whispered aloud the contents:

Diary:

(dashes are different pages)

December 2nd:
I found it. I had to burn down the whole town, but I found it. It was worth it. Anything would be worth it for this.
Hallock’s fall will fuel the biggest leap forward humanity has taken. It fits perfectly with the pieces Arkhus found across
the Northern Sea.

Akhonar will rise. But he needs followers. They need not know him by name. Any tribute, even to a falsehood, will do.
There’s a town up north. Small, isolated, mostly forgotten by those outside of it. I could gather worshippers there. I need
to be cautious, but I’m sure I can do it. It’s closer to her than I’d like, but she shouldn’t get in the way. She hardly ever
leaves her little “lair” now.

January 25th:
This town’s been perfect. It’s quiet, and people are trusting. I’m a little worried about the “mysterious wizard” in
the corner of town, but he’s a known risk. The townspeople are predictably dull and weak, and have taken to worship with
barely any work. I’ll surely have enough followers by mid-summer to begin the summoning. The few adventurers passing through
that have grown suspicious have been easily waylaid. Lemila’s proven to be a tempting enough foe to throw all of them off. No
one will suspect the true source until it’s far too late.

June 4th:
I should have known. I should have seen this coming. How many times have I been on the other side of this story? Back when I
thought I knew the world. Before I’d realized “right” and “wrong” are meaningless distinctions in the face of progress.
We’d been that group of scrappy heroes, seeking to keep this world in the dull rut it’s been in for millenia.

How naive we’d been. How arrogant! Akhonar is the future. Without him, humanity cannot ascend beyond this mortal realm.

But I’m smarter than my old foes. Even the most remote chance of failure must be squashed. This cannot be left to chance. I’ve seen far unlikelier “heroes” beat men stronger than me. Tomorrow I’m sending them to Lemila like the rest.
If I’m lucky, the aberrations will take care of them before they even meet her.

June 5th:
It went off without a hitch. The last roadblock to ascendance is gone. The beginning is only days away.

June 7th:
I was surprised to see the farmer die first, he was the one I’d been the most worried about. I’d expected the half-orc kid would be the first to go. I may have overestimated their competence.

It’s too late anyway. Tonight we leave.

After reading the diary, the group threw away both the pendant and sword they had received from Ankit, the treacherous priest. They deliberated quickly, and while doing so noticed that there was a light burning in the second floor of the town tavern. They approached.

The second floor of the tavern was dimly lit from the inside. Gaius spotted the tavern keeper, John, pacing on the second floor. Tormund knocked at the door and the group entered. John explained that “Last night, me and my wife and a couple of other people were at services as always. Ankit just, he uh, he seems like… Yeah. Something felt off. He… He was very impassioned about something. He kept going on and on about something that was happening tonight. I’ve always worshipped Zennik for as long as I’ve heard of him. Two years. Me and my wife have always gone to services… He insisted on another service tonight and said to bring as many people as we could. My wife went… I stayed behind. I don’t know what happened. I don’t know anything. He said something about a sorceress… a monster…”

Tormund explained that the group had heard loud chanting in Infernal in the temple before coming to the tavern. The tavern keeper was understandably taken aback. Tormund was not particularly diplomatic or soothing, but advised John to get (the fuck) out of town. (Gaius, at this point, told Tormund that he has a way with words.) With Bree still on his back, Tormund stalked off to the temple. Gaius openly stole a bottle of what turned out to be expensive liquor before leaving the tavern.

The group entered the temple, which turned out to be empty. The pews were covered in flat X marks that were either burnt or carved into the wood, with blood scattered across the pews. The raised dais supported the altar and Ankit’s throne, carved in which was the largest and deepest X. The seats were still warm. Samathy found a purse holding 60 silver pieces, which he recognized as his mother’s. He pitifully mumbled, “Mama?” Bree, in the middle of stealing 10 pieces of silver, reluctantly returned the silver to the purse. There were a few other scattered belongings, but there was nothing else noteworthy.

Bree returned downstairs and, before Tormund could stop her, opened the chest. She discovered seven light healing potions, a gold ring, and a cape of deep red with an eclipse embroidered on the back. The healing potions were distributed evenly (except for the seventh, which Bree kept), the ring went neatly onto Bree’s seemingly unchanged finger, and the cape went to a quietly delighted Gaius.

With the townsfolk Raptured, the group looted the general store, calmed the horses in the stables, and filled the cart with goods that would never be noticed as missing. They returned to the tavern, where they found John, sloshed beyond reason and emotion. They dragged him up to bed and, as much as they could after such an unsettling day, settled in for the night.

Bree, Samathy, Tormund continuing to investigate the water.
Marvin, Deacon, Sigrid, and Gaius hanging out and reading.
Bree, Samath, Tormund go through air duct thing and are plunged into darkness.
Searching for traps
Discover large, sturdy, old wooden box
Tormund dons a helmet and feels “different”
When he gets underwater, realizes the helmet lets him breathe underwater
Tormund excited!BST swims over to see if Marvin shows up; he doesn’t, so they go the other way.HELLADUDES (10 dudes)
Vicious toothy fish things
Samathy sees them first
One fish-thing lashes onto each of B, S, and T
Tormund face claps a dumb fish, it bites itself (bleeding real bad)BST start swimming back with fish-things in tow
Fish-things in pursuit
7 fish things up in BST’s business
Epic struggle to climb out of water
Samathy fails on first effort
Tormund tries to drag himself, Bree, and two fish things, and succeeds!
Fish bites Samathy and sets him bleeding out in the water
Tormund could try to stabilize Samathy, but instead Punches the Fish
Bree keeping Samathy above water so he doesn’t drown, but messes up and drops him, bangs head on wall
Fish put the hurt on Tormund and Bree, Tormund going ham and trying to keep it together
Marvin rolls up in knickers and studded leather, fails hard and drops his sword
Marvin gets sword back, dodging many attacks, then two fish bite his legs
Tormund goes ham and murders some fish with the spear
Marvin cleaves the fish on his thighs
Kill Count: Marvin 2, Tormund 3, one fish ran away
Debate over how to deal with unconscious Samathy
Gaius has just been reading his book this whole time
Marvin leaves the hole with Tormund’s assistance, gets bedrolls for the rest of the party, then goes back to his cart to sleep

Middle of the night
Marvin and Jed surrounded by wolves
Wolves biting Jed, Jed tries to run
Marvin puts up a fight and hits a wolf very hard, but it brings him down
Wolves catch up to Jed and bring him down, then kill him with their bites
The party hears the chaos and is scrambling to make it to Marvin
Wolves trying to get into the cart to finish off Marvin
Marvin down to -9 health and Tormund makes it out of the hole, turns the wolves
Marvin bleeds out
Big NOOOOOOO from Tormund as he cries and tries to heal Marvin
Rest of party gets up
Sheeeeeeee

Samathy above the hole, looks at the ground…
Wolfs look kinda weird, almost alien. Tormund drops down into the hole and gets attacked by a wolf. Two wolves lunge and bite into Tormund’s scale mail, damaging him pretty well. Gaius sits down to determine the best course of action. Meanwhile two more wolfs try to sink their teeth into Tormund’s calfs. But Tormund manages to kick them out of the way. A third wolf bites into his waist knocking Tormund to the ground. He lays bleeding…
Marvin drops down and swings wildly missing the wolf. He growls at the wolf as it backs up. Marvin looks coldly at Tormund, as he steps between some wolfs and the unconscious body of Tormund.
Bree jumps off the rope and lands on a dog. As she lands the dog groans, but then disappears. It suddenly flickers in and out of existence and appears next to Bree.
Deacon goes to the edge of the hole and loads his crossbow.
Gaius looks up at Samathy and says, “You should get ready to jump.”
Sigrid drops into the fight and takes out her war axe.
The dogs continue to disappear. A dog blinks and seems to move downward.
As Samathy gets to the edge of the hole he looks at Gaius. Gaius says, “Trust me!”. As he jumps Gaius utters a syllable and Samathy floats down 40ft.
Bree stabs at a dog as she dodges and trips another.
Marvin looks coldly at the dog whose has lunged at him. As he goes to step to the side to dodge the bite the dog blinks through him. Unfortunately he misses a dog to his side who bites his arm. A third one misses.
Marvin looks to the dog who hit him and swings. He misses again. He looks at his sword forsakenly.
Deacon places a well aimed shot into combat and hits the flank of a wolf.
Sigrid swings at the dog next to her lobbing of its head.
Marvin looks up and yells at Deacon to get down here to heal Tormund.
Samathy stands up from his feather fall and looks at the dog on the ground. He wails on the beast like it was a horse he was hitting while it’s down. His fists seem to miss as the dog blinks in and out, but finally connects as the dog lays deadMarvin looks to the dog who hit him and swings. He misses again. He looks at his sword forsakenly.
Deacon places a well aimed shot into combat and hits the flank of a wolf.
Sigrid swings at the dog next to her lobbing of its head.
Marvin looks up and yells at Deacon to get down here to heal Tormund.
Samathy stands up from his feather fall and looks at the dog on the ground. He wails on the beast like it was a horse he was hitting while it’s down. His fists seem to miss as the dog blinks in and out, but finally connects as the dog lays dead.
Marvin lays in with the sword and kills another dog. Deacon starts to head down the rope.
Deacon and Gaius start climbing down. Deacon bends down and says, “here you go young wipper snapper.” Deacon places a hand on his back and casts lessor vigor.
Samathy hurts his wrist. (rolls a 1)
Gaius examines the dogs and recognizes them as adolescent blink dogs.
A dog attacks Bree and she falls to the ground. The second dog and only other one left attacks Samathy and deals 2 damage.
Marvin steps over Bree’s unconscious body. He swings at the dog near Samathy and connects. The dog falls down.
Deacon sees Bree on the ground and goes over. He places his hands on her wound as a blue light emanates. She stirs lightly. Sigrid swings through the body of a wolf, but it seems to blink out of existence as she swings through it.
Samathy tries to attack the last dog, but hits Tormund instead.
As Gaius turns to study the skeleton the last dog blinks out of existence.
Tormund wakes up complaining about a bad headache. He’s confused why he keeps almost dying.
Sigrid climbs up and kicks down Deacon’s shield and crossbow.
Bree pokes Tormund. He picks her up.
Thon’s Cape. Two snakes intertwined around a sword. He had disappeared for a couple years. Known for some feats, defeated a dragon. Gaius puts the cloak on. He looks cool.
No obvious cause of death on Thon. Climbing holds over the cliff. Samathy sees nothing so starts to climb down. As he climbs down two centipedes climb out of the hand holes. Samathy says “ah bug!” in a low raspy voice as he throws one off of his hand. The other one bites his forearm. He quickly starts to climb down, but two more come down. He jumps down ten feet and lands with a thud.
Tormund comes over and looks down. Samathy repeats himself, “Bugs” as he points at the handholds. Tormund looks dumbfounded, and says, “Bugs, you got it little guy, bugs. What do we do here. No one likes centipedes. Wait! little man how deep is the hole?” He tries to stab into one of the first hole and feels no end.
Tormund yells at Samathy to explain it better. Samathy looks around. Floor is metal. A corridor to the right. Lake in front. Looks man made like a swimming pool.
Tormund lights torch gives to Bree and asks her to climb on his back and wave fire at the bugs. They appear to be scared of the fire.
Tormund fails to hold rope out. Marvin climbs down, the centipedes don’t come out because he doesn’t put hands in holes.
Sigrid lowers Deacon, and then climbs down. All climb down.
We start exploring the corridor after gauding the group to not go for a swim. Bree, Marvin, Tormund, Sigrid, Deacon, Gaius, Samathy. Walls all metal.
All follow Bree as she searches for traps. Wall curves to the left with a very smooth curve. 8 big glass tanks filled with liquid on each side of the wall after curve. Vaguely dark shapes in tanks that you can’t make out.
Natural magic. Make new life forms. Splice together creatures. Shunned by most mages in cities. Some have dog fetus, four legged tentacle beast. Gaius says, “This is dark magic, we should watch our steps”. Tormund pokes one and Bree says, “ewww”. Everything coated in dust nothing around in a while.

We find a bookshelf at end of tanks. Shitty bag of holding with lots of books. We find 3 potions of cure light wounds.
Bree takes one. Knocked on the wall, it’s hollow. She reexamines on the suggestion of Deacon. She finds a latch with a tunnel. Gaius gives her a candle. She goes down. Turns right and sees more of tunnel. Goes to end, and sees rungs going into water. Bree calls back, “can you he..re m..e.?” Can here her, but muffled. She goes back a bit and explains the situation. and some rugs, rungs, something like that. Samathy thinks, “focus Bree, focus”.
Deacon, Tormund, and Sigrid go to the other water part. Here her. Gaius isn’t leaving his spell book. Bree goes into the water and uses rungs along the wall to move along. Tormund gives torch to Gaius. Deacon takes a crossbow bolt and casts light on it. Tormund goes to wall in lake thing and dives under. He reaches the bottom very soon. 10ft.
Swims for a while and reaches Bree. Bree, Samathy, and Tormund swim on. Samathy has seen a hole and they are diving for it. Marvin swam back to Gaius, Sigrid, and Deacon. Thus ends then session.

Everyone hanging out in the town square
Villagers staring at billboard
Bree tries to steal from Tormund
Tormund catches her, puts her on shoulder
They read billboard: “A great evil has awoken. We need defenders immediately… come to temple of Zenak.”
Bree, Samathy, Deacon, Tormund, Sigrid, Marvin, Gaius make their way toward temple.
Enter the Temple
Ankit the Priest, “This is who I figured would come. We need to take in private.”
priest used to be an adventurer
final quest: lock away an ancient demon. Reason to believe that former party member is now trying to summon said demon.
The demon are called Ek
Former party member is an extremely powerful sorceress, likely responsible for strange goings-on as of late
Two boons: Pendant of Zenak and Sword of Superheroism
Old Party Members:
Lamila the Sorceress
Jerash, Half-orc Barbarian
Unaan, Halfling Scout
Ek imprisoned somewhere in the abyss
“Don’t Believe anything Lamila Says”
The party meets at Marvin’s Donkeycart
Marv nominates Deacon as leader
Pendant to Deacon, Sword to Marvin
Deacon gets his armor and shield
Off we go!

Out at night, sleeping in Shifts
Tormund – Marvin – Bree/Sigrid – Samathy
Attacked by Undead wolves during Samathy’s shift!
Samathy flurry’s one to death
Gaius acids another while Marvin flanks
A DIREBADGERAPPEARS
Badger attacks the prone deacon
Bree chucks a dart into the fire
Tormund and Marvin move to engage badger
Marvin wails on it with sword
Badger downs Tormund, bleeding out
Marvin wails on it some more
Deacon stands up, narrowly dodges
Samathy finishes the job, with FIST

Sleep through the night
Next day keep walking and come to a strangely circular 40ft clearing where the lair was supposed to be
Magical aura in the center of clearing
Bree walks into the clearing and saves: it’s an illusion. There’s actually a trap door
Bree deploys 50ft of silk rope with Tormund’s assistance, calibrated with Samathy’s darkvision
Bree, Marvin, and Tormund go down the hole 30ft
Tormund spies 7 doglike creatures and a skeleton
Shit’s about to do down

Samathy
Quarter orc monk
Mother human, father half orc
father left before born
some orcish features

Marvin “Marv” Thresher
John the Bartender, good relationship
Taciturn Bachelor Farmer in Tunnis
late 30s
Jedediah the Mule

Gaius Malum
Human wizard, conjuration domain
Sickly kid, late start to being a wizard
the great pox
apprentice to Seamus the Alchemist
sallowish, but not super noticeably
Steve Buscemi

Sigrid
“Sweet Chisel”
Dwarf barbarian, red hair
Blacksmith

Deacon
Human Cleric, 45 years old
Used to live in Halock, small village not unlike this one
Was the local healer
strong interest in magic, Order of St. Thomas
Looks like Clint Eastwood from Pale Rider, but shorter and pudgier

Tormund
Barbarian cleric
village healing but martial vo
Worships Kord, god of athletes, competition, etc.
Something really bad happened to his village
Been living with Marvin